So, after we’ve heard the rumblings at BTL, after it’s been blogged about elsewhere, today it became official: Tom Short, the president of the IA, announced his retirement today.

What’s left up in the air, however, is the next IA contract, since Short liked to conclude business early with the studios, coming to what he considered a reasonable accord, never calling for a strike, etc.

Whether that amity will remain with his predecessor, the already-named Matthew Loeb, in light of shrinking economic pies everywhere, and Hollywood’s ongoing “Year of Living Dangerously,” remains to be seen. But given that Loeb helped devise Short’s negotiating policies and tactics, it would appear the studios have little to worry about in the way of a IA walkout, anytime soon.

And speaking of pies, here’s a slice of the official IA announcement on Short’s upcoming “golden years:

IA PRESIDENT THOMAS C. SHORT ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

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In honor of “opening day” for the cowled one, here’s an article from the most recent print edition of “Below the Line:”

Dark Knight, new day: VFX Supes Nick Davis and Paul Franklin on Batman’s new minimalism

by
Mark London Williams

Neither “The Dark Knight’s” overall VFX supe, Nick Davis, nor Paul Franklin, the specific wrangler for Brit-based post shop, Double Negative, was new to the “Batman” franchise.

In Franklin’s case, he’d been there when director Christopher Nolan rebooted the caped crusader franchise with 2005’s “Batman Begins,” overseeing D-Neg’s work in a film Franklin describes as “clearly ‘The Dark Knight’s’ antecedent, but now rather than relying on elaborate stage sets Nolan used an even broader palette of real-world locations and environments to depict Gotham and its surrounding universe. Stronger fantasy elements such as the Narrows and the Gotham Monorail were either pushed very much into the background or completely absent.

“We did have early conversations with (production designer) Nathan Crowley (who) explained to us how he was aiming to move away from the deco/Gothic look which was evident in the earlier films. and towards a cooler minimal modernist aesthetic. This in turn prompted a large amount of architectural and technical research on our part to ensure that we could accurately reproduce the materials and overall feel that Nathan described.”

It was a different feel than what Davis was used to in his previous “Batman” outings: Those came in what might be charitably called the “troubled” years of the franchise, when Joel Schumacher directed the mid-90’s installments “Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin.”

Schumacher, Davis recounts, had “a ‘light’ take on Batman” (which might account for the bright neon-suffused look of the films), whereas Nolan “comes from a darker, more photo-real” perspective. That meant “not pushing any element beyond what could be accomplished in reality.”

After all, Batman, unlike his DC confreres Superman or Green Lantern, doesn’t get “power” from alien sources – he’s motivated by trauma, a lot of physical training (and, well, unlimited access to capital, and let’s hope Bruce Wayne has invested in some Euros!). He’s – in a superhero context – a “regular” guy.

So “rather than relying on elaborate stage sets, Nolan used an even broader palette of real-world locations and environments to depict Gotham and its surrounding universe,” according to Franklin. “Stronger fantasy elements such as the Narrows and the Gotham Monorail were either pushed very much into the background or completely absent.”

Or as Davis puts it, “we started with a real palette,” which in this case meant helicopter plates of Chicago (where part of the film was shot) and New York, in order to not only expand beyond the Narrows – and Batman-specific set pieces like Arkham Asylum – but to enlarge “the city – to make it much, much bigger.”

Not only was there now a specific geography to Gotham City, but as Davis notes, the “whole style and look of (this) movie is cleaner, post-modernist.”

And much of that “cleanness” would be seen on a very, very big screen, since the film is also slated for an IMAX release.

Franklin recounts there was “pressure to raise the bar – particularly with the IMAX work – (which) meant that everything needed to be comprehensively overhauled, enhanced and upgraded. The biggest advantage of having done ‘Begins’ was knowing what worked last time and what needed
improvement.

“Perhaps the biggest difference,” he continues, was “in terms of look for us was the move from working digitally at 2K anamorphic to a combination of 4K anamorphic and 5.6K IMAX. This meant that all of our tools across the 2D and 3D pipelines - which have been in continual development since completion of ‘Batman Begins’ - had to be comprehensively overhauled for ‘Dark Knight.’ We also had to carry out a major infrastructure upgrade to handle the vast amount of data that these resolutions entailed. The only constants with ‘Begins’ were the trio of core commercial packages: Shake, Maya and Renderman, though even those had gone through several releases since 2005. Key additions to our pipeline were an all-new dynamics pipeline, a new 64 bit compositing toolset, realtime 3D lighting tools and a powerful shot management system that forms the backbone of our production pipeline.”

Davis adds that the aforementioned “strain” evinced itself in the “amount of detail” suddenly necessary for the CG to stand up to IMAX scrutiny. Forty minutes of the movie were shot in original IMAX, which, word has it, explodes from the frame.

But the buildings had to stand up to larger scale, increased scrutiny.

In addition to coordinating Double Negative’s work, Davis oversaw the contribution of other digital shops like Framestore CFC, which did digital duty on a key sequence where both Bruce Wayne – and his alter ego — “pay a visit” to certain crime figures in Hong Kong.

And while neither B. Wayne nor B. Man visits Paris in this film, the City of Light was represented in the form of FX shop BUF, which oversaw a climatic sequence involving the late Heath Ledger’s already storied performance as ultimate comics villain The Joker, and how Batman brings him to ground, at last.

We can’t divulge the particulars of that digital sequence here, but it’s quite spiffy, and involves an entirely different level of “landscape” and “mapping” than the other FX work.

That said, Davis notes that “Chris is a great believer in trying to do things practically.”

Much like Batman himself. Though the Dark Knight has tools, implements, computers, even a souped up “Batpod” motorcycle.

And Nolan, well, he had Davis and Franklin.

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Here’s a rather interesting AP article posted over at the NAB Website. Note the paragraph about FilmLA and permits, towards the end. No mention if these were for features, TV, or commercials, so it’s hard to gauge the “activity” being talked about. On the other hand, it could also be indicative of the fact that producers are less able to travel anywhere else — certainly out of country, with the fraying dollar — to shoot….

SAG stakes fight on made-for-Internet content

Associated Press
July 18, 2008 - By RYAN NAKASHIMA — LOS ANGELES — The Screen Actors Guild on Thursday gave its most detailed explanation yet for its rejection of a final contract offer by Hollywood studios, citing shortfalls in pay and union jurisdiction on made-for-Internet productions.

In a letter to SAG’s 120,000 members, Doug Allen, the guild’s executive director, claimed the offer would allow nonunion actors into “almost all new media productions for the foreseeable future.”
Microwave Radio Communications

It said the producers’ offer also would leave out residual fees paid to actors for content that is made specifically for, and then retransmitted on, the Web.

“A program originally made for ABC.com could be available for re-viewing on ABC.com … as often as possible and forever with no residuals,” Allen wrote. “The stakes are too high to concede.”

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Artists responded with an equally detailed statement describing its Internet offer as “a major advancement” from the previous contract.

The producers have offered to mandate union coverage for Web shows that cost less than $15,000 per minute, but only if a union actor is hired. Those costing more would also be covered, regardless of who is hired.

They also offered residual payments for Internet-only shows that are rebroadcast on pay platforms like iTunes, theatrically or on television. Paid downloads of movies would trigger double the residual rate actors now receive from DVDs.

“Not a single one of these rights exists under the contract that expired on June 30 �” a contract that SAG members now must work under because of the failure of SAG negotiators to make a deal,” the alliance said in a statement.

The producers have said a final offer they made June 30 was worth $250 million in additional compensation over three years, an estimate the guild disputes.

The offer mirrors those accepted by writers, directors and the smaller actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

The producers alliance and the guild met Wednesday for two hours, but did not reach a deal and scheduled no further meetings. The alliance has said it is not interested in counterproposals.

The producers said if their final offer is not ratified by Aug. 15, any proposed wage increases would not be made retroactive to July 1, potentially costing actors more than $200,000 a day.

Also Thursday, the nonprofit permitting organization FilmL.A. said Hollywood producers posted their busiest quarter since at least 1993 as on-location shoots in the Los Angeles area between April and June rose 26 percent from a year ago.

The increase, mainly due to producers making up for time lost to the 100-day writers’ strike, came amid claims by the major studios that the industry had slowed to a crawl over fears of an actors’ strike.

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This was from the Financial Times.

And all we can say is –uh oh, you mean Hollywood isn’t “recession” (or “depression”) proof?

Lack of bank financing will shut down the feature pipeline faster than any guild or union action…

Paramount forced to suspend $450m financing

The credit crunch has hit home in Hollywood after Paramount Pictures, which has released a string of hit movies this year, was forced to suspend plans for a $450m film financing.

The studio has been working with Deutsche Bank on financing that would have provided funds for up to 30 films, including possible blockbusters such as the sequel to Transformers and a new version of Star Trek.

However, the bank was unable to close the financing because of a market-wide lack of enthusiasm for the deal’s senior debt component. Deutsche has subsequently decided to close its film finance unit and concentrate on other areas.

A person familiar with the negotiations said Paramount had walked away from the agreement because the terms had become too onerous. ”The terms had become unattractive compared with alternative sources of financing available to Paramount,” he said.

Although another bank may yet step in and rescue the package Paramount is likely to have to put the financing on ice until credit markets stabilise. Liquidity has dried up and although film slate deals can generate lucrative returns, potential lenders are steering clear of asset classes that are not triple-A rated.

More at the site. Tho’ registration is required…

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